Ministry of Infrastructure and Development Polish National Focal Point Michał Ziętara Director Department for Assistance Programmes

Polish SMEs: Interesting partners for Norwegian enterprises

Why does Norway support Poland? Norway, Island and Liechtenstein together will provide EUR billion for 15 EU countries in years In return Donors benefit from access to the internal EU market despite the fact that they are non-EU members Poland may receive EUR up to million (ca. 33%)

The objectives Diminishing economic and social disparities within EEA and supporting bilateral cooperation Themes & values of 18 programmes (EUR million): Protection of the environment and renewable energy (180) Strengthening of civil society (37) Social and economic development (85.5) Cultural heritage (80) Research and scholarships (77.8) Green Industry Innovation (20) Schengen and internal affairs (40) Decent work and tripartite dialogue (3.1)

State of play All the programmes approved by Donor States 100% of funds committed to the programmes All Programme Agreements (PA) with the Operators signed Most of open calls in progress or already finished Projects must contribute to overall objectives of the programmes Beneficiaries: prepare applications for open calls if selected – sign agreement with the Operator implement projects ___ report project progress collect profits contribute to the success Green Industry Innovation (GII) – last, but not least – starts now! GII is operated directly by our Norwegian partner – Innovation Norway

Bilateral aspects Bilateral aspects are extremely important in EEA/Norway Grants improving & strengthening our mutual co-operation 8 programmes out of 18 are implemented together with a partner from Donors’ countries Bilateral cooperation on national level supports initiatives of strengthening bilateral relations between Poland and Donors Bilateral cooperation on programme level supports networking, exchange of experience, sharing and transferring knowledge, technology & best practices between institutions from Poland and Donor States

Partnership within projects - roles Norwegian Partners of Polish SMEs within the projects submitted in the open call will take part in: common preparation of application implementation of the project activities achieving common objectives and results sharing best practises, expertise, technology transfer taking advantage of Norwegian experience and competence in the field of green industry innovation

Benefits for Norwegian partners exploring the business opportunities in Poland possibility of extending the cooperation beyond the project time frames long term cooperation with Polish companies building competence increasing opportunities creation of new prospects for Norwegian entities establishing valuable personal contacts shaping a positive image of Norwegian business

Thank you for your attention! Polish National Focal Point Michał Ziętara